TORONTO – Prominent Canadian women have a message to Prime Minister Stephen Harper: they refuse to be silenced. The women – feminists, activists, academics, economists, and former politicians – contributed to a new anthology[2] by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

“Senator Nancy Ruth unleashed a firestorm last spring when she advised women to ‘shut the f*ck up’ about our Prime Minister’s attempt to cut foreign funding on maternal health,” says Trish Hennessy, the book’s co-editor. Ruth was quoted as saying to women’s groups last spring: “If you push it, there will be more backlash. This is now a political football.”

“That warning shot – the implication that Canadians who fight for women’s right to choose, no matter where they live, could face retribution from our own federal government -- reminded us of the troubling fragility of our democracy,” says Hennessy.

“It made us want to give voice to women, so they can do what they have long done – speak truth to power.”

Senator Nancy Ruth has the final say in the book, explaining the rationale behind her comment and urging women to “cultivate and nurture broad-based coalitions of allies”. She ends with these parting words to feminists: “Good luck and never STFU!”

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For an interview with one of the book’s contributors please contact: Trish Hennessy (416) 551-2059. For more information and/or to purchase a copy of the book, click here[2].